Dandelion Vineyards Lioness of McLaren Vale Shiraz 2024
£12.95
The wine
McLaren Vale Shiraz gives a richer, softer and more chocolatey style than the peppery Shiraz of cooler Australian regions, the Vale running from the Adelaide Hills down to the sea.
Lioness is the McLaren Vale counterpart to the Barossa Lionheart, and the pair make a useful comparison of what region does to the same variety in the same hands. Dandelion Vineyards is the venture of winemaker Elena Brooks and her husband Zar, drawing on old vineyards across the Barossa and Eden Valleys, McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills. Elena grew up in Bulgaria, much of her childhood spent in a winery where her mother worked.
The producer
Dandelion Vineyards
View all Dandelion Vineyards winesDandelion Vineyards is a celebrated South Australian producer drawing on some of the state's oldest and most treasured vineyards, across the Barossa, Eden Valley and McLaren Vale. Founded by winemaker Elena Brooks and her husband Zar, it champions old vines and evocative, storybook labels. Character defines everything it makes.
The estate works with prized parcels of ancient Shiraz, Grenache and Riesling, some over a century old. These deep-rooted vines, grown across South Australia's warm valleys and cooler hills, yield fruit of remarkable concentration and perfume. Each vineyard tells its own story.
In the cellar, minimal-intervention winemaking lets the old-vine fruit speak. The Shirazes are rich yet fragrant, the Rieslings pure and racy, always with a sense of place. Balance and personality run through the range.
From the everyday Lionheart Shiraz to the rare old-vine Red Queen, Dandelion offers South Australia at its most charming. Vivid, generous and beautifully made, these are wines with a story in every bottle.
